ByAndrewMunroe

HappinessProject
Section2Humanities
TheKeyToHappiness

Throughoutallrecordedhistory,andmaybeevenlongbeforeweveknown,humanshave
beenconstantlypursuingthatsimplefeelingthatweallcravesodesperately,thatfeelingofpure
joy,excitement,greatness,thatfeelingofcomplete,absolutehappiness.
Happinessrelatesto
howwefeel,butitismorethanjustapassingmood.Weareemotionalbeingsandexperiencea
widerangeoffeelingsonadailybasis,assaidintheGuardiannewsreportonhappinesscalled,

Whydoeshappinessmatter?

Wepuzzleoveritconstantly,wetrytosynthesizethatperfect
feelingwithcomplexprescriptionhappinessdrugs,sometimesillegal,mindalteringdrugs.We
trytotellourselvesBehappy,You'reperfectlycontent.Mostlywetrytofeelitthrough
instantgratificationintheformofnew,mobiletechnologyandselfindulgence,butitalways
seemstoeludethepeoplewhousethesemethodstosatisfytheirthirstforthatfeeling.Although
italwaysseemstopopintoourlivesatitsconvenience,weneverseemtobeabletorepeatthat
simple,yetcomplex,actionthatinfuseduswithjoy,havinguswasteourlivessearchingfor
somethingthatmayneverbeeveragain.Itisnothowmuchwehave,buthowmuchweenjoy,
thatmakeshappiness,saidbyCharlesSpurgeon.Workingtowardsameaningfullifeis
necessarytofindhappiness,whichcanonlyhappenbysurroundingyourselfwithfriendsandby
helpingothersinneed,andfromthiswewillcreatecloseknitcommunitieswithapurposeto
fulfill.
Tofindhappinessyoudonotonlyneedtohavemeaning,youneedtounderstandwhat
youcandotofindandembraceit.Asnoticedinthedocumentary
IAM
byTomShadyac
,
they
trytounderstandwhatisimportanttofindhappiness,whichwasdiscoveredtobethrough
meaning.Thedocumentarysaidthatwhenpeopledogiveupeverythingtofindhappiness,they
alwaysfindthemselvesmoreunhappythaneverbecausetheytrysohardtofindit,thattheyend
uplosingthemselves.Inthedocumentary,afterTomhadanaccident,hetriedtobuyhis
happinesswithlargehousesandexpensivecars,butintheendhefoundtruehappinessbysimply
beinghimselfinaplaceheloved.Wehavetriedsohardtofindhappinessthatwehaveforgotten
whatittrulymeanstobehappy.Assaidinthearticle,
Theresmoretolifethanbeinghappy
,
Havingmeaningincreasesyouroverallbeing,andwhilethisdoesnotspecificallymention
happinessandhowtoachieveit,itdoesshowhowmeaningcanplaythelargestpartinourlives.
Peoplesaythatmeaningdoesntmattertothemandthathappinessiswhateveryonewants,butis
it?Whenaskedwhattheirsatisfactionwasinlife,peoplewererecordedtohaveahigherlife
satisfactionwhentheyhadledameaningfullifeandhadaccomplishedsomethinggreat,and
thereforehappinessisnoteverything.Whilefeelingthatabstractthingcalledhappinessisgreat,
itcanneverreplacethefactthatyou,asaliving,breathingperson,couldhavedonesomething
worthrememberingoverandoveragain,forever.

Happinesscanbringmanythings,butcannevertakeoverthepassionthatisfoundwhen
weconnectwitheachotherinsocialsituationsandbyhelpingothersinneed.Happypeople
arentspecial,theyaresimplysocial,wassaidbyMartinSeligmaninaTEDTalkcalled
PositivePsychology.Bysimplybeingaroundpeople,hopefullyhappy,youstarttofeelbetter,
theysupportyouemotionally,andwhenyourearoundotherpeopleyoustarttogainevenmore
socialexperience.Beingaroundpeoplemakesyoufeelgreatandcompleteinside,butsome
peoplethinkthathappinesscomesandgowithoutyourchoice,butinrealityitalsocomesfrom
helpingothersinneedandprovidingthemwiththosesimplepleasuresthatmaketheirlives
worthliving,andyoursaswell.Inthearticle
Howgivingmakesyouhappy,
byThereseJ.
Borchard,itassertsthatpeoplewhovolunteeredtohelpinacommunityfeltphysicallybetter,
hadimprovedtheirsenseofwellbeing,andhadadecreasedstresslevelthanbefore.Bygiving
yourservicetootherswithoutcomplaint,youcanfindmeaningthatyoudidnthavebefore,and
withthisnewpurposeinlifeyoucanfindyourtrueselfandthenyoucanfinallycometofind
thatfeelingofhappiness.Whetheryourealizeitornot,weareallconnectedtoeachotherwith
ourfeelings,emotions,evenphysicaltendencies,andwhenwehelpeachotherwitheventhe
simplestofthings,wefindwhowereallyareandstarttoembraceit.

Whenwerealizewhatweneedinordertofindhappiness,wecanworktowardsbuilding
communitiesthatcouldsupportahappierlifestyleandhelpustowardsaccomplishingmeaning
inlife.Inthebook
BraveNewWorld
byAldousHuxley,thereisasocietythathasbeen
geneticallystructuredtohaveuniformity,beaperfectsociety,andthepeoplearealwaystoldto
beundeniablyhappy,nomatterwhat.Butwhilethissocietymayseemtolookhappyand
content,theylackmeaning,findtheirhappinessthroughdrugs,dontevenunderstandwhattype
ofsocietytheylivein,andthiscausesthemtohavenoreallifetoliveby.Thisbookdoesrelate
slightlytoourworld,wherewearetoldtobehappyandfindourhappinessthroughthe
consumerismofallofthenewitemsandfashiontrends,andwherewehavetrouble
understandingwhywecantseemtobehappy.Maybewecantfindhappinessbecausewedo
notcompletelycomprehendwhattypeofsocietywelivein.Inthemovie
Happy
byRokoBelic,
thereisasocietythatpromotesthepursuitofhappiness,thissocietyislocatedinSouthAsiain
Bhutanandtheyfindhappinessthroughtheprocessoffindingapurposeinlifeandhelping
othersinatinycloseknitcommunitythatsupportseachother,andisbasicallyagiant,closely
relatedfamily.Becausetheyareallundoubtedlyclosetoeachotherandareextremelysocial,
theyhavebeenrecordedtohaveoneofthelargestgroupsofpeoplewiththelongestlifespansof
anywhereonearthandhavethehighestlifesatisfactionbecauseoftheywaytheylive,together.
Inaway,wetortureourselves,wetellourselvestobehappyatwork,whiledoinghomework,
evenwhilewedostuffthatmakesusuncomfortable.Wetortureourselveswhenwegobuythe
newestshoesandphonesinordertofeelbetter.Inrealitythereisnothingthatcanforceusto
forgetaboutwhatweabsolutelyfeelandwhoweundeniablywanttobewhenwearesurrounded
byfriendsandwithinasupportivecommunity.


Wetrytofindhappinessthrougheverywaythatwecanpossiblythinkof,sowhy
shouldntwetrytosupporteachotherinsucceedingandpushtowardsourpassionsthatweso
desperatelydesire?Tocreateasocietythatsupportseachother,wantstopushforwardinour
newwayofthinking,andvaluesauthentichappiness,weneedtofirstunderstandwhywewant
toconstantlypursuethisfeeling,andwhywefindthisfeelingsoutterlyintoxicating.Butbefore
werecreateourworldtobeabetter,saferplace,weneedtoreexaminewhatweneedtodoto
findhappiness,becausewithoutanexplanation,wehavenohopetobetterourselvesfromwho
weusedtobeorwhowemaybecome.Areweactuallyhappy,orarewesimplytelling
ourselvesthatweareinordertofeelbetter?Inasocietythatcompletelyvaluescommunity,yet
wantstobeindependant,andvalueshighsocialstatusaboveallelse,whyshouldwebechanging
theworld,whycantwesimplychangewhoweare?Theanswerit'suptoallofus.

WorkCited

WorldofPsychology
orchard,ThereseJ."HowGivingMakesUsHappy."
WorldofPsychology
.Unknown,n.d.Web.14Mar.
2016.<http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/12/22/howgivingmakesushappy/>.

TEDTalkMartinSeligman
"Transcriptof"TheNewEraofPositivePsychology""
MartinSeligman:TheNewEraofPositive
Psychology
.TEDTalks,n.d.Web.15Mar.2016.<
https://www.ted.com/talks/martin_seligman_on_th
e_state_of_psychology/transcript?language=en>.

HAPPY
Belic,Roko.."HAPPY|TheHappyMovie."
HAPPY|TheHappyMovie.
Happy,n.d.Web.15Mar.
2016.<
http://www.thehappymovie.com/
>.

TheresMoreToLifeThanBeingHappy
Smith,EmilyEsfahani."There'sMoretoLifethanBeingHappy."
TheAtlantic
.AtlanticMediaCompany,
9Jan.2013.Web.16Mar.2016.
<
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/01/theresmoretolifethanbeinghappy/266805/
>.

OtherSources:
BenjaminFranklinQuote:
Itistheverypursuitofhappinessthatthwartshappiness,

BraveNewWorldbyAldousHuxley

TheGuardian
Williamson,Mark."WhyDoesHappinessMatter?"
TheGuardian
.GuardianNewsandMedia,03
Nov.2014.Web.18Mar.2016.
<http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/03/whydoeshappinessmatter>.